An ‘innocent’ photo of a woman cleaning windows is being shared by police with a serious warning.

Members of the public are being warned that what looks like a simple household task may be an indicator for something more sinister.

Avon and Somerset Police say that seeing someone who’s always inside doing the cleaning and never leaving the home alone may be a victim of domestic servitude.

It’s a type of modern slavery and the force is asking people to report any signs of, according to SomersetLive.

This can be done by calling 101 or anonymously through the Modern Slavery Help Line on 0800 121 700.

What is domestic servitude?

Domestic servitude involves the victim being forced to work in private households.

They’ll be forced to perform household tasks like housekeeping and child care over long hours and for little - if any - pay, and their movements are often restricted.

This means victims lead very isolated lives and have little or no unsupervised freedom.

(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)

Their own privacy and comfort will be minimal, often sleeping on a mattress on the floor in an open part of the house and in rare circumstances where victims do receive a wage, it’s heavily reduced because they’re charged for food and accommodation.

What is modern slavery?

Modern day slavery is the movement and trade of people of any age, often for the purpose of exploitation.

Almost all forms include some element of forced labour, which is ‘any work or services people are forced to do against their will’.

Some of the different types of modern slavery are:

Child exploitation

Domestic Servitude

Forced labour

Organ harvesting

Sexual exploitation

How common is modern slavery?

According to the National Crime Agency, over 5,000 potential victims were submitted through the National Referral Mechanism in 2017.

The report showed potential victims of trafficking originating from 116 different nationalities.

The most common exploitation type is labour exploitation, which also includes criminal exploitation.